Why Your Web Site’s Privacy Policy Matters More Than You Think

One of the biggest concerns among visitors to Web sites is how their personal information is going to be used. This isn’t a new development; back in March of 2000, BusinessWeek did a cover story on Internet privacy, including a survey showing that the vast majority of users were either very or somewhat concerned about how their information would be used. The same cover story discussed how best to inform and reassure users. (You can see other such surveys, dating back to 1997, here.)

Unfortunately, while the number of businesses with Web sites has continued to expand, as has the sites’ sophistication, the level of disclosure of data practices has not significantly improved. True, most Web sites (especially business ones) have posted “privacy policies,” but too many simply copy language they’ve found on other Web sites. The problem? The borrowed language may describe the practices of the other site, but may not be correct when it comes to the new site using the policy, and when it comes to privacy policies, inaccuracy can be expensive.

Source: BusinessWeek

Hat tip: PW

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 and is filed under Business and Economics, Privacy, Search News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.